Given the recent spate of bannings at OzPolitic, I felt that I should come up with my own rules.

Please provide feedback, suggestions and opinions.
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Rules for OzPolitic:

Rules prescribed for the provision of debate, conversation and argumentation on OzPolitic forums. Rules for banning members on OzPolitic.
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OzPolitic values freedom of speech and provides a platform for the free expression of speech about any issue. People may, subject to the rules prescribed below, discuss or raise any issue they wish.

Any person who:

1)      blatantly vilifies, insults or profanes another forum member using expletive language, and, does not, within forty-eight hours of making said post, apologize for or retract said post, or express regret for making such post; in all which cases to be done publicly on the Forum,

shall be banned from OzPolitic for a period of seven days. This provision generally applies in cases where the vilification or insult is blatant and continual, and takes course over several posts within a forty-eight-hour period; and said comments do not relate to the topic of the thread. A simple ‘once-off’ comment does not usually warrant a ban.

Any person who:

1)      insults or vilifies personally and directly the family and/or member of said family of any forum member, notwithstanding that said forum member brings up the issue of their family,

shall be banned from OzPolitic for a period of three months. Said provision applies in cases where another forum member intentionally and blatantly insults the family or a member of the family of any forum member. This applies irrespective of whether or not a forum member has raised the issue of their family.

Any person who:

1)      posts any nude image (which reveals in nude, either one of both of a person’s ‘private parts’), whether male or female,

shall be banned for a period of seven days. This applies only to adult photos.

Any person who

1)      posts any nude or pornographic image of an under-aged person

shall be banned indefinitely.

Any person who:

1)      reveals any personal information, including addresses, phones numbers, emails, the real names etc. of another forum member without the latter’s consent,

shall be banned from OzPolitic indefinitely.

Aussie wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 3:23pm:


Power imbalance?  As for most prolific posters to whom do you refer? I noted yesterday that yourself, Mothra, John and Gregg do nearly a hundred posts a day.  98 to be exact.  That's an average, so every day, between you, you clowns are doing 700 posts a week.

It's rare that John, and Gregg especially are not present. 

And you all act as front men, a unified tag team  defending and deflecting from each other, feeding lines to each other for a straight man routine. 

Secret Wars wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 3:32pm:



What a funny thing to not only calculate, but obsess over reporting. Like, again and again and again and stuff.

Takes all sorts, i suppose.

Secret has checked out all of our profiles and actually done the maths!

Astonishing.

mothra wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 3:38pm:

I know his game from more than a decade ago, Mothra.

I'm not playing it. 

I'll stay on the Topic in the hope something is done so that boycotting 'collectives' of the kind I think about in anger, don't develop.

Something needs to be done.

The place is nothing without active Members.

mothra wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 3:36pm:


Work of a minute Mothra, click on your names, easily available everywhere, you clowns infest the forum,  read, calculate.

If I were you I would be embarrassed about the amount of time you spend here rather than trying to deride my very easy gathering of a number.
 

mothra wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 3:45pm:


Work of a minute Mothra.  How many many minutes you spend here every day?

Pathetic you say?   

Still, i don't find myself interested in other people's time spent on here ... or their post count.

Only you can know why it matters to you.

mothra wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 3:51pm:



yeah, you got it all going on ain't ya? 

Move on from that point, Mr Wars.

Sprintcyclist wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 3:54pm:


Yup, no correspondence entered into.

Much like the rules Aussie has bragged about at what he calls his sandpit. 

Aussie wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 3:53pm:


I am happy to respond to any questions Mothra has.

Your attempt at intervention has been noted, you are a good wingman.

mothra wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 3:45pm:



mothra aussie is famous for checking where and when someone is logged on....remember fd has two forums..

its one of his main games...for goodness sakes to even mention SW  in the same breath  is hilarious...



aussie is the biggest sticky beak on the forum...

he even demanded agnes tell him why she was banned... .. for all we know he ev en PMd the gmod to find out....btw aussie  I know  what happened.... .. and yes it was quite a big deal..

mothra wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 3:58pm:


You invite a response dopey then you are very likely to get one. 

See, just like that one.  It ain't difficult to work out.

I am asking both of you to let that matter drop so the Topic gets some chance to be discussed.

mothra wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 4:02pm:

Chat sites really aren't rocket science!

Aussie wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 3:56pm:

Yeh, broad guidelines is the way: otherwise you'll waste your life administrating an internet site!

cods wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 4:13pm:


No Cods. I will call foul. As i have called foul with your behaviour. As i called foul on AiA.

But i don't let it wound me.

I expect bad behaviour. I am not disappointed.

But i don't let it wound me.

Secret Wars wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 4:14pm:



What's that got to do with me asking you questions?

mothra wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 4:16pm:



no body asked that..



have you ever reported anyone...ooops yes you did mention  one person...  what about others??.......

if someone called you a whore and hinted at it every time they posted to you or about you....what would you think about that?..


why do you expect bad behavior are you suggesting its not because of anything you say?....just that they are bad people in general...

you must meet different members to me....

Why do you people ignore polite requests?

I will now lock this far king Thread.  I'll unlock it later and then.....I'll delete any Post which does not address the Topic.

Enough.

Aussie wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 4:26pm:


Locked.  Later.

Aussie wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 3:52pm:


Ok. That can work.

I say that 5 people be elected for a term of 6 months with no possibility of re-election for a successive term [edit: I mean a consecutive term. Members will be re-eligible after that).

How would the voting work?

Caesar.....there have been plenty of views such as to suggest there is general interest.

How about drafting a 'thing' which sets up that Review/Senate (whatever) made up of five elected Members, an election to be held every six months with no-one able to have consecutive terms?

Overturn.

Meaning, of course, that an elected 'Senate' would have (almost) ultimate say......a body democratically elected to review, overturn or confirm a GMod's decision.....giving ultimate power (below that of FD as Owner of course) to the citizens/members.

I seriously doubt FD will go for it, but it is worth the effort to give him a viable workable concept to consider.

I alert you now to the question of franchise, and your 'Rule' will need to address that.

Cheers.

Auggie wrote on Sep 13^th, 2017 at 8:20pm:

To be fair I think everyone is only for democracy as long as they are in control!

..otherwise it sucks!

TheFunPolice wrote on Sep 14^th, 2017 at 3:51pm:


I have no issue with that.  Caesar?

Sprintcyclist wrote on Sep 12^th, 2017 at 3:54pm:


That's about it. There are very simple rules here to avoid being banned. Don't use repetitive or excessive abuse and the same goes for swearing.

If you have to insult someone - do it politely.

No Aussie - in principle it's unfair, but you've got to add human nature to the mix also. The sole moderator is probably on overload at the moment, so the people who annoy him the most will probably get treated a little more harshly than some of the others who might be more polite to him.

mantra wrote on Sep 15^th, 2017 at 12:52pm:


Mantra.....where have you been?????

no rules, no reviews

If you are rude and the mod is in a bad mood .... you might get a rest.

Seriously Sprintcyclist - you call yourself a Christian yet you push for so many people to be banned. What if you had been banned permanently in those early years when you often lost the plot? Some members felt compassion for you and continually asked FD to reconsider your reinstatement.

Lisa - you have been banned permanently in the past - and so have a few others. I for one, have pushed to have you and quite a few members reinstated over the years, but when I see the hatred some of you have for certain people who you disagree with I wonder why I bothered.

A message to all those who have broken one rule after another and escaped a permanent exile - live and let live. Once you get rid of all the people who annoy you - this forum will become as boring as PA. FD relies on a variety of personalities to keep Ozpolitic alive.

Those who continually call for bans could have had the same fate if others hadn't intervened on their behalf when they were misbehaving.

I'm intervening now. Remove all permanent bans and for those who continually whinge to the moderator/s - give it a rest and learn a little tolerance for others who are different.

You don't have to apologise to me Herbert - I know Aussie as well as anyone online, but regardless of how many people he annoys - Aussie is one of the main contributors here. His stirring helps to keep Ozpolitic alive. All the members have something to offer and this adds up to a busy forum. Once it becomes too exclusive it will stop attracting new members.

Auggie wrote on Sep 19^th, 2017 at 10:13pm:


The usual....flaming/trolling members & GMods/revealing bits n pieces of private PMs...all part n parcel of the everyday posting experience for Aussie.

Lisa Jones wrote on Sep 20^th, 2017 at 8:34am:


Yes. I [delete] all my PM's weekly so as not to be tempted to use them against others via a bitter dumby-spit, etc.